Majority of US Mobile Consumers Use Devices to Comparison Shop

Shopping-specific apps see heavy use

Mobile commerce is grabbing an ever-growing slice of the overall ecommerce pie. eMarketer estimates that 15% of all US online retail sales in 2013 will be made on a mobile device, an increase from 11% in 2012.

Those projections correspond with an April survey of US mobile internet users conducted by AYTM Market Research that demonstrates just how common mcommerce has become for mobile internet users. According to the poll, 55% of respondents had ever made a purchase on their mobile device, although only 9% did so with great frequency.

Researching products and prices on mobile was an even more popular shopping activity. In fact, 72% of respondents said they had used their phone to research product prices or seek a better deal online, with 22% saying they did so often.

Apps, in particular, appear to be playing an important role in leading shoppers down the path to purchase. Just more than one-third of respondents said they had downloaded an app specific to a particular store, making it the most popular type of shopping app used by consumers. That was followed by local store/shopping locators apps (26%), general coupon apps (25.5%) and daily deal apps (22.5%).

Figuring prominently in the mcommerce landscape are tablets, the ownership of which correlate strongly to digital purchases. eMarketer estimates that 63% of US tablet users will make a purchase on the device this year, with that percentage growing to 78% by 2017.